Canary Islands Tourism Statistics 2026

Official tourism data for the Canary Islands

The Canary Islands tourism statistics for the 2024–2026 period reveal a detailed overview of the Canarian tourism sector. According to official data from ISTAC (Canary Islands Statistics Institute), the archipelago received 18,386,274 tourists in 2025 — its all-time record, up +3.5% on 2024 — and 18.42M arrivals over the last 12 months, consolidating its position as one of Europe's leading tourist destinations.

Tenerife: leader in tourist arrivals

Tenerife remains the island with the highest tourist influx, receiving 7.36M visitors in the last 12 months (08/2025 – 07/2026). Tenerife tourism data shows a stable trend with peaks during winter and Christmas holidays, with the island accounting for roughly 39.9% of all Canary Islands arrivals.

Gran Canaria: second tourist destination

Gran Canaria ranks second in tourist arrivals to the Canary Islands, with 4.76M visitors in the last 12 months (08/2025 – 07/2026). Gran Canaria tourism statistics reflect a strong presence of the German and British markets, with notable demand in quality tourism and longer stays.

Trends and monthly analysis

The monthly analysis of Canarian tourism shows clear seasonal patterns. Peak months correspond to October through March, consistently reaching above 1.5 million monthly arrivals. The most recent comparison — 07/2026 vs 07/2025 shows +2.8% year-on-year. The 12-month rolling total stands at 18.42M tourists.

Canary Islands visitor numbers by year

The full annual series back to 2015, including the COVID collapse and recovery, is in the Canary Islands tourist numbers by year analysis.

Tourist spending and economic impact

According to ISTAC's tourism expenditure survey, total tourist spending reached €23.19 billion in 2025 (+3.9% on 2024), an average of €178.16 per tourist per day. The tourism sector represents around 35% of regional GDP. With 18,386,274 annual visitors against roughly 2.2 million residents — more than eight tourists per resident per year — visitor volume has also become a political issue, with large demonstrations across the islands in 2024 and 2025. We unpack that debate, with sources, in our Canary Islands overtourism and sustainability analysis.

Tourists by country of residence (2025)

According to ISTAC's monthly FRONTUR press notes, around 89% of tourists arrived from abroad in 2025 (roughly 16.3 million international visitors), with the remainder travelling from mainland Spain. The United Kingdom is by far the largest source market, followed by Germany and mainland Spain.

Shares as published in FRONTUR-Canarias monthly press notes — e.g. October 2025: United Kingdom 36.2% (574,317 tourists), Germany 14.6%, mainland Spain 10.9%.

Methodology and data sources

This Canarian tourism dashboard exclusively uses official data from ISTAC and FRONTUR. The monthly tourism statistics include only main tourists, excluding inter-island movements to avoid duplications. All data has been verified and updated through July 2026.

Two specific questions have their own page: how many tourists visit the Canary Islands and how much they spend. For island-level breakdowns see the per-island statistics page and the dedicated pages for Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and La Palma (in Spanish). The full month-by-island reference table is in the monthly table by island (in Spanish). For the full historical series since 2015, see the 10-year evolution analysis, and for the two biggest islands head-to-head, the Gran Canaria vs Tenerife comparison. The wider debate around volume, spending and sustainability is covered in our tourism and sustainability analysis.